A cup of tea to prevent stroke

Mar 30, 2010 by Hans Wolkers

(PhysOrg.com) -- A cup of tea is good for you. At least three cups a day can reduce the chances of having a stroke by 20 percent.

This is the conclusion drawn by Peter Hollman of Human nutrition and food safety institute RIKILT, The Netherlands, and outlined in an article in the last issue of The Journal of Nutrition. Hollman's research has made it clear that flavonols are responsible for this effect.

That tea is good for the heart and blood vessels has been known for some time. Scientists guessed that this healthy effect could broadly be put down to the role of flavonoids, a big group of substances that includes flavonols. Flavonoids occur in vegetable products and one of their effects is to work as antioxidants. 'Studies on the health impact of flavonoid-rich foods consistently showed a positive effect on the heart and blood vessels', says Hollman. The big question was, though, exactly which flavonoids were behind this effect.'

Hollman analysed the relationship between intake of various sorts of flavonoid and the incidence of stroke. His meta-analysis incorporated data from over 100 thousand test subjects from six published studies. He found that specific flavonoids, the flavonols, had an effect on the risk of stroke. 'With an intake of flavonols equivalent to the amount in three cups of tea, you can cut the risk of stroke by 20 percent', says Hollman. 'That is a big drop.'

So should we all increase our tea drinking to get this protection from stroke? Not really, because you can also get your flavonols from fruit and vegetables, chocolate or red wine. Good news for confirmed coffee drinkers who can happily do without tea.

Related Stories

Eating flavonol-rich foods like apples may help reduce the risk of pancreatic cancer, says a team of international researchers. Quercetin, which is found naturally in apples and onions, has been identified as one of the ...

The role coffee and tea play in a person's risk of having a stroke got a little clearer recently as two large observational studies found that the beverages may actually provide a modest amount of protection.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Drinking at least three cups of green or black tea a day can significantly reduce the risk of stroke, a new UCLA study has found. And the more you drink, the better your odds of staving off a stroke.

More evidence for the beneficial effect of green tea on risk factors for heart disease has emerged in a new study reported in the latest issue of European Journal of Cardiovascular Prevention and Rehabilitation. The study ...

New research from the Channing Laboratory at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) reports that frequent consumption of foods containing the flavonoid kaempferol, including non-herbal tea and broccoli, was ...

Recommended for you

Governments could substantially reduce the tragic death toll of infants and mothers by making postnatal care services more accessible - especially to impoverished and poorly educated women in rural areas, according to a study ...

It seems like it's in just about every product on grocery store shelves: high-fructose corn syrup. What is it, and how is it different from regular old sugar? And how did it become such a popular but controversial ...

(HealthDay)—Although most health care staff feel that extended treatment time on hemodialysis is beneficial, many nurses do not recommend it, according to a study published online March 16 in the Journal of ...

Domestic violence takes many forms. The control of a woman's reproductive choices by her partner is one of them. A major study published in PLOS One, led by McGill PhD student Lauren Maxwell, showed that women who are ab ...

User comments : 0

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.